Welcome to Loud & ClearSTL, the renamed and renewed blog for the Center for Hearing & Speech. We are a 501(c)3 non-profit agency that provides top quality speech and audiology services for individuals of all ages, regardless of one’s ability to pay. The blog is a tool we’re using to tell you who we are, what we do and how we do it. If you have a question, comment or concern about anything we post, please let us know. We’d love to hear from you.

The Center for Hearing & Speech is extremely grateful for Pinnacle Entertainment’s continuing sponsorship of the annual holiday season Gingerbread
House Experience. This past December’s event hit the five-year milestone marker
for Pinnacle, radio partner 103.3fm KLOU and the Center as a charitable
fundraising affair. It also saw the most activity and donations by the public in
the history of the event.

“This is such a wonderful holiday tradition for the Center and
for St. Louisans as well,” said Rita Tintera, Center Executive Director. “We
are very thankful for the tremendous time and creative effort invested by everyone
at both casinos for this special event. It’s no wonder why patrons want to dine
in the gingerbread houses, they are beautiful and adorable!”

Pinnacle Entertainment, owner of the River City Casino and
Ameristar St. Charles Casino, recently presented the Center with a $9,600 check,
the total donations generated from gingerbread house dining reservations made between
the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.

“The camaraderie to make this event happen … the chefs,
facilities teams, servers, cleaners … was a tremendous team effort,” said
Tintera. “Thank you to everyone at Pinnacle Entertainment!”

The donation provides a terrific boost for the Center’s program
funding. The Center provides low-income adults and children in the St. Louis
community with hearing evaluations and hearing aids, speech-language therapy
for children and adults, and young children with school hearing and vision
screening services, all regardless of their ability to pay for them. Here’s how
this donation can be used to help local residents through Center services:

·$9,600 provides hearing aids and related
services to eight financially challenged adults or senior citizens so they can
work, socialize and live more independently on their own; or

·$9,600 can provide 10 children from low-income
families with speech-language therapy to correct speaking disorders or delays so
that they can learn and grow academically and to better socialize with others;
or

·$9,600 can provide 1,371 children attending
schools in the most challenging neighborhoods with essential hearing and vision
screenings in efforts to identify undetected problems.

“We thank all of the patrons who booked their holiday meals in
both of the casino gingerbread houses,” said Jeff Tarr, Center Development
Director. “Not only were they enjoying the festive holiday dining experience
with family and friends, they were also providing the gift of communication for
those living with hearing or language disorders. This wonderful event means
great things for our clients every year!”

Tarr says the Gingerbread House Experience is the biggest
fundraising event that benefits the Center beyond its annual spring gala.

Founded in 1920 in
St. Louis, the Center for Hearing & Speech is a 501(c) 3, non-profit
organization and a proud member of the United Way, which provides major funding. The Center’s primary goal is to identify,
treat and help St. Louisans with communications disorders by offering
speech/language and audiology services to children and adults, regardless of
whether they have insurance and/or financial resources to afford such
care. For additional information call
314-968-4710, visit www.hearing-speechstlouis.org or “like” the Center on
Facebook.